BEIJING/SEOUL, Nov 26(ABC): North Korea’s leader Kim Jong Un pledged his commitment to denuclearisation and to meet US officials, China said on Wednesday after his meeting with President Xi Jinping, who promised China would uphold friendship with its isolated neighbour.
After two days of speculation, China and North Korea both confirmed that Kim had travelled to Beijing and met Xi during what China called an unofficial visit from Sunday to Wednesday.
The visit was Kim’s first known trip outside North Korea since he assumed power in 2011 and is believed by analysts to serve as preparation for upcoming summits with South Korea and the United States.
US President Donald Trump wrote on Twitter he had received a message from Xi on Tuesday night that his meeting with Kim “went very well” and that Kim looked forward to meeting the US president.
“Look forward to our meeting!” Trump wrote, while adding: “In the meantime, and unfortunately, maximum sanctions and pressure must be maintained at all cost!”
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the China-North Korea talks and Kim’s decision to travel outside his country were a “positive sign” the US-led pressure campaign to force North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons has been working. “We’re going to be cautiously optimistic,” she told reporters.
“For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “Now there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity.”
Earlier this month, Trump, who has exchanged bellicose threats with Kim in the past year, surprised the world by agreeing to meet the North Korean leader to discuss the crisis over Pyongyang’s development of nuclear weapons capable of hitting the United States.
North Korea’s official media has made no mention of Kim’s pledge to denuclearise or the anticipated meeting with Trump, which is planned for some time in May.
China has traditionally been secretive North Korea’s closest ally but ties have been frayed by Kim’s nuclear weapons programme and Beijing’s backing of tough UN sanctions in response.
China’s Foreign Ministry cited Kim in a lengthy statement as telling Xi the situation on the Korean peninsula was starting to improve because North Korea had taken the initiative to ease tensions and put forward proposals for talks.